What

Match-five of the bilateral ODI series between Zimbabwe and India

When

August 2, 2013, Saturday

Where

Queens Club, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe

The Teams

Zimbabwe

The hosts have been complete pushovers in this series, even against a young and inexperienced Indian side. Barring the first match, the top-order batsmen have struggled against India’s seamers and there has been little resistance from the middle-order. Not a lot of blame can be put on the Zimbabwe bowlers who haven’t been given a decent score to bowl to. Brendan Taylor’s ill luck with the toss has made matters worse. Going into the final game, desperate to avoid a whitewash, the minnows will have to play out of their skins. If they bat first, the top three will have to show grit against the moving ball and bowling first, the pacers must exploit majority of Indian batsmen’s liking for big strokes.

India

Irrespective of the result of the fifth ODI, Team India’s purpose of touring Zimbabwe has been served. The young guns have come out trumps in their test and the team is unbeaten. Four players have made their ODI debuts and some rookies have gotten their first taste of the Indian dressing room. A 5-0 dominance will be the icing on the cake and Virat Kohli – who is on the verge of registering a whitewash in his first series as India captain – would be guarding his boys against complacency.

Key players

Zimbabwe

Elton Chigumbura has been the highest run-scorer for Zimbabwe in the series with 142 runs from four matches. His unbeaten 50 in the fourth match was a confirmation of his form. As one of the more experienced players in the side and a quality all-rounder, the captain will expect him to stand up in the team’s hour of need.

India

Suresh Raina was low on runs coming into this series and thanks to the success of top-order batsmen, hardly got a chance to score big in the first three matches. However, in what was a brilliant captaincy move by Virat, the left-hander was promoted up in the order in the last match and ended up with an unbeaten half-century. Having played his way back to form, Raina would hope to retain his one-down spot for the final match and finish on a high.

Squads

Zimbabwe: Brendan Taylor (capt/wk), Tendai Chatara, Elton Chigumbura, Michael Chinouya, Graeme Cremer, Kyle Jarvis, Timycen Maruma, Hamilton Mazakadza, Natsai M’Shangwe, Tinotenda Mutombodzi, Ray Price, Yusi Sibanda, Sikandar Raza, Prosper Utseya, Brian Vitori, Malcolm Waller, Sean Williams

India: Virat Kohli (capt), Shikhar Dhawan, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Amit Mishra, Mohammad Shami, Parvez Rasool, Cheteshwar Pujara, Suresh Raina, Ajinkya Rahane, Ambati Rayudu, Mohit Sharma, Jaydev Unadkat, Vinay Kumar, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja